Industry Update—May 2026

Here is a recap of recent industry happenings:

ADVANCED REACTOR MARKETPLACE

GE Vernova, Hitachi seek opportunities in Southeast Asia

GE Vernova and Hitachi have entered into a memorandum of understanding to identify opportunities for the commercial deployment of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Southeast Asia. The companies agreed to carry out the collaboration through the GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy joint ventures. The companies will also look for opportunities to incorporate qualified Japanese suppliers into the partnership and to strengthen the supply chain for future BWRX-300 deployment in Southeast Asia. The BWRX-300 is under construction at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, and in the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing the Tennessee Valley Authority's application to construct the BWRX-300 at the utility's Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Microreactor developer Nano Nuclear Energy has described progress in its initiative to develop transportation equipment for HALEU fuel. The company, through its Advanced Fuel Transportation subsidiary, has been developing a nuclear fuel transportation basket design with the technical support of GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service. Nano Nuclear reports that it has completed conceptual designs for two optimized fuel payload baskets capable of transporting HALEU materials in multiple fuel forms, a preliminary design for the transport package overpack to house the payload baskets during shipment, and initial regulatory and engineering analyses to evaluate compliance with nuclear transportation regulations. The company intends to further advance the fuel transport package through the next phases of development, including engineering validation, regulatory engagement, and certification.

Reactor and fuel technology developer X-energy has signed a nonbinding MOU with Japan's IHI Corporation to explore and promote collaboration in high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor technology. The collaboration will focus on the design, engineering, manufacturability, and supply chain development of the main power system (MPS) pressure boundary components to support eventual deployment of X-energy's Xe-100 advanced reactor design. The potential MPS component sets include the reactor pressure vessel and reactor internals (such as the core barrel), the steam generator pressure vessel and steam generator internals, and the cross vessel.

X-energy has submitted a draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the initial public offering (IPO) of the company's Class A common stock. X-energy plans to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "XE." The proposed IPO is subject to the completion of the SEC review process and other conditions. J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Moelis & Company are acting as the lead joint book-running managers for the offering.

X-energy UK Holdings and Centrica have signed an MOU with the Hartlepool Borough Council, Hartlepool College of Further Education, and Hartlepool Development Corporation to establish a Nuclear and Electrical Trades Academy for technical education in nuclear-related careers and other clean energy careers. The academy will offer technical training, literacy and numeracy support, and structured pathways for employment in clean energy. This initiative is part of a wider collaboration between Centrica and X-energy to deploy X-energy's Xe-100 HTGR technology across the United Kingdom.

Hadron Energy has signed a nonbinding MOU with Paragon Energy Solutions that establishes a framework for collaborating on the design, development, and implementation of the instrumentation and control (I&C) architecture for Hadron's Halo microreactor. Paragon, a Mirion Technologies company, will support the development of the Halo reactor in such areas as safety and nonsafety I&C platform integration, control logic development, human-machine interface support, and cybersecurity considerations. Paragon will also supply physical instrumentation devices and such associated hardware as sensors, transmitters, control cabinets, networking components, and other field and control room equipment. The collaboration has the potential to extend beyond a first-of-a-kind deployment to subsequent commercial units.

Reactor developer NuScale Power has established a collaborative research program with Ebara Elliot Energy, a turbomachinery company. The program was launched to demonstrate and field test a commercial-scale high-temperature steam compressor designed to integrate NuScale Power Modules with petrochemical plants that require process heat. The NuScale-EEE collaboration will support the development, manufacturing, and integration of turbomachinery and energy-conversion systems for petrochemical plants powered by NPMs. The steam compressor is expected to be completed in 2027, with field testing to follow.

NuScale Power and Framatome have expanded their partnership with plans for Framatome's European facilities to fabricate fuel assemblies for NuScale's SMR customers in Europe. Framatome was selected in 2015 to fabricate fuel assemblies for NuScale's SMR customers in the United States. Framatome's facility in Richland, Wash., is to be qualified within the next five years to manufacture the NuFUEL-HTP2 fuel design, with production of at least 444 fuel assemblies for NuScale's first U.S. customer as early as 2030.

ZettaJoule, which is developing high-temperature gas reactors for heat and power applications, has opened an office in Houston, Texas, at the Ion, the 16-acre innovation hub at Rice University. The company is working to modernize the technology of Japan's High-Temperature Engineering Test Reactor for oil and gas, steelmaking, aviation, data center, and e-fuel applications. ZettaJoule is also collaborating with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, part of the Texas A&M University System, to explore development of a research reactor.

Dutch-French molten salt reactor developer Thorizon has signed a strategic MOU with Hyundai Engineering and Construction to jointly advance the development and deployment of MSR technology. The companies intend to cooperate in the development and commercialization of Thorizon's MSRs, including engineering and design activities, preparation for future reactor projects, and engagement with industrial energy users. Through their partnership, the companies will determine how Hyundai's engineering and project delivery experience could best support the realization of Thorizon's MSR program.

Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected the engineering consultancy firm Arup to provide early-phase foundation engineering and design support for the Wylfa nuclear power plant, which is to host the United Kingdom's first SMRs. Located on the island of Anglesey, off the northwest coast of Wales, the Wylfa plant will supply as much as 1.5 GW of electricity to the grid, strengthening U.K. energy security and advancing the nation's net zero goals. Arup will work with other project partners-including LDA Design, TÜV SÜD Nuclear Technologies, Mace Consult, and Gleeds-to assist GBE-N in the optioneering process, feasibility studies, and integrated site-specific concept design.

Cambridge Atomworks has signed an MOU with multinational engineering consultancy firm Mott MacDonald to accelerate the development of Cambridge Atomworks' Odin microreactor. The agreement takes advantage of Mott MacDonald's decades of experience in delivering integrated and innovative solutions for large-scale nuclear projects. Cambridge Atomworks' microreactor technology is focused on delivering power for energy-intensive industries and installations in regions with no grid infrastructure.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

New nuclear services company formed

The Nuclear Company, a U.S. nuclear deployment firm that emerged in 2024, has established a services subsidiary called The Nuclear Company Services to provide specialty maintenance, outage execution, and workforce augmentation services to reactor operators in the United States. The company expects that the subsidiary will help it fulfill its stated mission to develop coalitions across communities, regulators, and financial stakeholders for the rapid development and deployment of a 6-GW fleet of reactors. The firm's portfolio includes a wide range of services, such as precision maintenance and repair of pumps, rotating equipment, and mechanical seals; welding, pipefitting, and pump alignment systems; turbine services; electrical and instrumentation-and-control support; switchgear and motor control inspections; and cable pulling and terminations.

Mangiarotti, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric UK Holdings, has changed its corporate name to Westinghouse Electric Italy. The name change represents part of the company's transformation into a nuclear manufacturing hub to strengthen Westinghouse's global supply chain. A professional staff of about 300 at Westinghouse Electric Italy will support AP1000 and AP300 projects worldwide, including in the United States, Poland, and Bulgaria. The company specializes in manufacturing nuclear steam supply system heavy equipment as well as fusion projects. The firm expects to play an important role in relaunching Italy's nuclear power sector.

Wisconsin-based Realta Fusion and Japan's Kyoto Fusioneering have formed a strategic partnership to focus on the joint development and deployment of plasma heating systems for Realta's magnetic mirror fusion machines, mirror-based neutron sources for qualifying materials, and tritium blanket breeding and fuel cycle systems. In the first phase of the work, gyrotrons (microwaves used to heat fusion plasmas) that Realta purchased from KF are to be installed on Realta's first commercial-grade fusion machine at the Realta Forge, a planned research facility. The two companies also plan to pursue joint engagement of their government stakeholders, industry associations, and standards organizations and to coordinate supply chain partnerships for components, materials, and subsystems.

Nuclear fuel cycle company Snow Lake Resources has changed its name to Frontier Nuclear and Minerals Inc. CEO Frank Wheatley explained that the "renaming of our company is another milestone in our strategic transformation and more accurately reflects the ongoing development of our business across multiple sectors of the nuclear fuel cycle." Frontier Nuclear and Minerals intends to develop a front-end nuclear fuel cycle business through a portfolio of uranium exploration and development projects in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, along with investments in uranium enrichment technologies and small modular reactors. The company's common shares are being listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the trading symbol "FNUC."

Texas-based Fluor Corporation has opened an office in Bucharest, Romania, expanding its capacity to support nuclear energy projects in that country and elsewhere in Europe. The company noted that it is committed to helping Romania enlarge its nuclear power sector by providing engineering, design, licensing, and project management services for two ongoing nuclear initiatives: an SMR project in Doices,ti and the expansion of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

Sweden's Studsvik has acquired Kärnfull Next AB, expanding the company's activities from supporting the existing nuclear fleet to developing new nuclear projects. The combination of Kärnfull Next and Studsvik expertise includes project development, fuel and materials testing, mission-critical software, and waste management. The acquisition coincides with the Swedish government's introduction of financing mechanisms to support new nuclear development. Studsvik was expected to announce additional corporate partnerships to advance these nuclear development goals.

Bumax, a premium stainless-steel fastener manufacturer based in Sweden, has established a presence in Eastern Europe at the office of its mother company, Bufab, in Budapest, Hungary. Bumax plans to use this office to build its brand and support customers across Eastern Europe, especially in the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Balkans, and Turkey.

CONTRACTS

Centrus-Palantir partnership to apply AI to uranium enrichment

Centrus Energy has formed a partnership with Palantir Technologies to apply Palantir's AI-driven software tools in the support of Centrus's expansion of uranium enrichment capacity at its plant in Piketon, Ohio. The collaboration allows Centrus to use Palantir's Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform to optimize project controls, engineering, manufacturing execution, supply chain management, and regulatory compliance. The companies have identified about $300 million in potential cost savings and efficiencies, including expected reductions in manufacturing lead times and an acceleration in the timetable for bringing new uranium enrichment capacity online.

A joint venture led by Virginia-based Amentum has been awarded a framework contract valued at $112 million by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) to lead the cleanup of nuclear research sites in four European countries. The Amentum joint venture with WSP Italia, supported by subcontractors TUV Rheinland and Protection Solutions SRL, is to provide decommissioning and waste management services to accelerate the remediation of JRC sites in Ispra, Italy; Karlsruhe, Germany; Geel, Belgium; and Petten, the Netherlands. Such JRC sites have provided independent scientific advice to EU policymakers for six decades by conducting research in nuclear decommissioning, safeguards, and nonproliferation. The new framework contract-with an initial duration of two years and three potential two-year extensions-covers the handling of research reactors, hot cells, accelerators, laboratories, and other similar infrastructure. The covered scope of work includes licensing, radioactive waste management, radiation protection, decommissioning and nuclear engineering, worksite management and safety, nonnuclear engineering, facility supervision, and quality assurance.

Bechtel has signed a contract with the Polish company Doraco for construction and support services on the second and third phases of geological and geotechnical surveys for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear project, which will be Poland's first nuclear power plant. Bechtel, as a partner in the Bechtel-Westinghouse consortium, is the lead contractor for the work. The project's first phase, which was completed last year, included deep geotechnical investigations in the area planned for the three nuclear islands. The second phase is to cover the areas that are designated for the auxiliary buildings and supporting infrastructure, and the third phase will cover marine and coastal areas relevant to the associated marine offloading facility. Doraco's infrastructure and support work will include utilities, fuel, and technical support; drilling platform and temporary access road construction; and logistical and medical support. The work is expected to be completed in 2027.

Framatome has signed a contract with the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) to supply high-density silicide low-enriched uranium (HD LEU) fuel elements for the BR2 research reactor, which is Europe's most powerful research reactor. The 100-MWt BR2 reactor is used in materials testing and the production of medical radioisotopes. The new contract builds upon a collaboration between Framatome and SCK CEN that began two years ago. In 2025, Framatome qualified as an approved LEU supplier for the BR2 reactor by delivering three lead test assemblies of HD LEU fuel. These assemblies were successfully irradiated in the BR2 reactor without any reported defect or irregularity. Framatome intends to extend this success to the industrial-scale production of HD LEU fuel elements.